Better Than Nothing
by otter cook
Summary: Aizen ordered it and so it must be done. Just remember: Hate is better than nothing. !Grimmjow x Ichigo, slash!
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Better Than Nothing  
**Author:** Dragondream08  
**Rating:** NC-17 (sex and language)**  
Pairing:** Grimmjow Jeagerjacques x Ichigo Kurosaki  
**Word Count:** 1,192  
**Disclaimer:** None of the characters are mine.  
**Comments: **There's an illustrated version of this at my livejournal – you can find a link on my profile. I'm planning on fleshing this out, so you guys would be safe in expecting more. )

**Start.**

There's nothing soft or gentle about what they do; when they drag their fingers across each other's skin, they leave deep gashes and welts, and when they grind against each other, their hips move in frantic, startled jerks. It's as painful as it is pleasurable, just like everything else they do – as if they can't keep their passions straight, can't figure out how to react to each other. Do they try to rend the flesh from their bones, basking in the gore and uninhibited violence, or do they try to push together, hard enough that their bodies meld into one?

"Shit, you're fuckin' good," Grimmjow growls appreciatively as he thrusts swiftly into Ichigo – hard and quick, just like they both like it.

"Fuck," Ichigo moans, his eyes closed tightly and his teeth gritted. His back is being scraped raw by the tree he's pushed up against – and it's got some of the roughest bark that he's ever felt. Grimmjow's hands are getting scraped up, too: they're planted firmly on either side of Ichigo's head, gripping the trunk so tightly that the bark is crumbling and catching in the cuts on his palms. Ichigo's hands are wrung in the forest's mossy undergrowth; only the lower half of their bodies are touching. The scarcity of contact is made up for by the strength and passion of it.

Legs wrapped around the other man's waist, Ichigo forces him in deeper with each jerk. It burns beautifully, and Ichigo, smirking, clenches his muscles around Grimmjow's cock. The answering groan of "Holy _fuck_!" brings a gasped chuckle to his lips.

And then Ichigo feels the simmering heat in his groin brought to a full boil, and Grimmjow must have felt it, too, because he suddenly drops down and smashes his lips to Ichigo's. They rake their hands across each other's bodies, leaving trails of puffed up, red skin, and Ichigo moans approvingly as the arrancar drives into him with even more frenzied and powerful strokes. He positively shrieks when a hand wraps around him and jerks him off to the rhythm of their fucking.

"Grimmjow!" Ichigo gasps as he comes, his body wracked with small spasms and tremors, and he feels Grimmjow follow shortly after with a loud, reverberating groan.

They ride out their orgasms with a few more thrusts before Grimmjow collapses onto Ichigo gruffly and heavily. For minutes after, all they hear is the wind rustling through the leaves and the loud pants of their breath. It's strangely peaceful, considering that this is Grimmjow and Ichigo.

The peace doesn't last that long; Ichigo can feel his skin – everywhere on his body – begin to hurt in a fierce sting, and this is the part of sex that he dislikes most because his skin will keep burning for days. It's especially bad when they do this while he's still in his human body – then he has to wear turtlenecks and jeans for weeks afterward.

"Bastard," Ichigo grumbles and tries to shift Grimmjow off of him, but the arrancar doesn't budge. "Fuckin' get off me!"

Grimmjow just sinks his teeth into Ichigo's already-abused neck and gives a rumbling growl. "Not fuckin' done with ya." With a smirk and a lick, he adds, "Bitch."

Snarling, Ichigo punches Grimmjow's shoulder and spins them around in one quick lunge. Sitting against Grimmjow – who, in turn is sitting against the tree – Ichigo grinds their hips together.

"Bitch!" Grimmjow hisses, more vehemently now, and he digs his fingers into Ichigo's hips.

"Shit, you're a horny fuck. I can't believe you're already hard again." Ichigo, nonetheless, massages Grimmjow's scratched chest, moving with a sort of wicked gentleness, and he grins broadly, splitting his bruised lips open, when Grimmjow drops his head back and moans. Rolling his hips to the arrancar's, Ichigo murmurs, "Like it?"

Grimmjow, in response, pulls Ichigo up and then pushes him down on his cock once more, paying no heed to the redhead's wince.

"Fuckin' love fuckin' ya," Grimmjow growls, gripping Ichigo's hips more tightly and forcing the redhead to ride him.

"Fuck you. I – hate you." The statements are punctuated by loud moans as Ichigo moves with the steady rhythm of a metronome. Head thrown back, his eyes squint at the sunlight streaming through the canopy and he weaves his hands over Grimmjow's, clenching and unclenching them as they guide him. When teeth and lips graze the skin of Ichigo's collarbone, he thinks vaguely how strange it is that this fuck is going so tenderly compared to the others.

Minutes fly by with only the sound of skin slapping skin, before suddenly Grimmjow and Ichigo's sharp cries mingle as orgasms grip their bodies.

In the silence that follows Ichigo tries to ignore the guilt that trickles into his stomach like a sickness. No – he isn't doing anything wrong. By having sex with the enemy and by thoroughly enjoying it, he's not betraying anyone. What they do on the sidelines has no effect in this war. It's not wrong, not, not, _not_.

Ichigo stands up and feels warm liquid trail down his thighs uncomfortably. He wrinkles his nose and moves to wipe the bloody come away but Grimmjow stops him. After throwing a smirk to Ichigo, he shoves his nose between the redhead's legs and licks the fluid up, chuckling when this elicits a gasp.

The tongue starts to get too close to his groin, so Ichigo quickly grabs a fist-full of Grimmjow's cerulean hair and pulls the arrancar away.

"Horny bastard," Ichigo grumbles as he swiftly flits away and gathers up his haphazardly strewn clothes. Grimmjow just smirks at him and languidly picks up his own uniform.

They change in silence but when Ichigo starts to pull on his sash he hears Grimmjow say, "Aizen knows," and that's all he needs to freeze completely.

"_What_?" he asks, lips tugging downward and eyes wide. "How did . . . ? You didn't –"

"Fuck no. D'ya think I'm a fuckin' retard?" Grimmjow growls and strides over to Ichigo. "I dun' have a clue how the bastard found out." His angry eyes compound the truth of the statement.

"But – he didn't kill you," Ichigo murmurs and he takes a step away from Grimmjow.

The expressions that the arrancar gains then is the most un-Grimmjow-like expression that Ichigo has ever seen and he unconsciously takes another step back. Grimmjow is never supposed to look _worried_, for God's sake.

"He fuckin' told me to either" – Grimmjow pulls close to Ichigo and grabs his wrist – "kill you or bring you back with me to Hueco Mundo."

Like a statue, Ichigo can't move – and neither can Grimmjow, it seems, as they both warily stare at each other, motionless.

"If," Ichigo starts with a thick tongue but strong voice, "you take me back, I'll hate you."

A tired grin pulls Grimmjow's face.

"I thought you already fuckin' did."

Frowning, Ichigo opens his mouth to reply but he's interrupted by a sharp pain at his side, which instantly causes his body to seize up. And then his vision melts to gray and he hears, "Hate is better than fuckin' _nothing_."

He sighs as his mind falls into unconsciousness.

**End.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Better Than Nothing (2/?)  
**Author:** Dragondream08  
**Rating:** NC-17  
**Pairing:** Grimmjow Jeagerjacques x Ichigo Kurosaki  
**Fandom:** Bleach  
**Word Count:** 1,349  
**Disclaimer:** None of the characters are mine.  
**Comments: **Major confusion in this chapter. Bear with me; once you get to the end, it makes sense.

**Start.**

When he awakes, all that he can feel is lips brushing against his neck. They're cracked and chapped, and Ichigo recognizes them instantly as Grimmjow's; the tell-tale scrape of the jawbone mask only confirms his suspicions.

It's all a very gentle caress and Ichigo thinks that he could probably melt into it, softly. But then hands start to stroke his sides and a sense of _wrongness_ overwhelms him. He remembers who Grimmjow is, how much of a fucking bastard the guy is, and his eyes snap open. Only his eyes; his body is strangely sluggish, like the nerves aren't exactly working properly. His body doesn't feel the wrongness.

"_What_ . . . ?" he starts to say, but the sight of Grimmjow leaning over him, peering at him, freezes him. The arrancar is smiling.

"Took you long enough to wake up" is whispered into his ear and fingers twine in his hair.

They kiss, and it's everything that it shouldn't be, never has been; it's slow and sweet, something dragged from the deepest chasms of their souls – it's loving.

And it's wrong, wrong, wrong – but _nice_, and Ichigo can't believe himself. He can't believe that he loves it or that he secretly wanted this all those times Grimmjow smashed their lips together and bit him.

"This is so wrong," he says, squeezing his eyes shut.

"But it's what you want, right?"

Ichigo doesn't know.

**O0o0O0o0O**

The sky is a brilliant blue when Ichigo peels his eyes open. The blood that crusted them shut breaks and drifts on the wind. It's mildly warm and the breeze feels lovely on his skin. He's weightless, up high, and he can almost imagine that he doesn't have any cares.

Except that there's a loud buzz growing in his ear, splitting the peace wide open. Ichigo looks down and sees the source: there, standing on the earthy ground are the Gotei 13 and behind them, the majority of the shinigami divisions. The captains are mostly just staring at him with alternating expressions of disgust and hate, but everyone else – well.

It's horrible. They're waving their fists and screaming, "Death!" over and over in a chant that strikes him right at his heart. The despair he feels is incomprehensible.

It's then that he realizes where he is. The archway of wood and the sharp spike of metal will forever be ingrained in his mind; he can't believe that it took him so long to recognize the soukyoku.

And there he is, crucified to its breastsummer – utterly helpless. He's going to be executed.

Soon – very soon. The air in front of him has burst into a giant phoenix, staring him straight in the eye with a lifeless and hateful gaze. The spiteful crowd has settled down to watch the event.

He's going to die.

The massive creature screeches and dives towards him, aiming to spear him on its beak, to crash through his body and destroy his very core.

He's going to die. He'sgoingtodiehe'sgoingtodiehe'sgoingto –

Two shadows flash in front of him and the terrible creature screams angrily before exploding into burning ashes that disintegrate before ever reaching the ground. Ichigo watches the remains with frantic eyes before looking up at his saviors.

It's Grimmjow and Aizen.

"Fucking moron," Grimmjow growls as he strikes through the soukyoku's top rack. In a flash of light it breaks and Ichigo starts to fall, his restraints gone.

Grimmjow catches him, smirking. Ichigo looks at him and then at Aizen.

As if he'd asked a question, Aizen says, "Why, we're here to save you, of course."

**O0o0O0o0O**

The bed he's in is one of the softest that he's ever felt. The sheets are cool against the room's stifling air, and Ichigo wishes that he could stay here forever. It's heaven.

"Finally fuckin' up," someone behind him says. A man is pressed against his back – Ichigo can feel his muscles ripple against his spine as he shifts – and his arms are slung loosely around the vizard's hips.

"Grimmjow," he grumbles, smiling, as he turns around to look the other man in the eye.

When he sees Grimmjow, he freezes. There's no mask jutting over his jaw and his eyes are missing their customary turquoise outlines.

Ichigo jerks away and looks down to Grimmjow's stomach. It's whole, a complete expanse of smooth skin. Just to make sure he's not seeing things, he reaches out and brushes his fingertips over the flesh. He feels warmth.

"You're – " he starts to say, but Grimmjow flashes him a grin and drags him into a kiss before he can get very far. It's deep and rough, just how Ichigo remembers the other man's kisses and that, at least, makes his muscles relax.

"I don't know what's got you so fuckin' worked up, but you need to let go," Grimmjow says and pulls Ichigo under the blankets with him.

**O0o0O0o0O**

"It's not so bad here," Ichigo hears from beside him. The words are spoken softly, like they're a secret, and he looks up to see Orihime smiling at him. "They're actually rather considerate," she says.

He frowns. "Don't you miss the others? Our friends?"

She reaches forward and touches his cheek. "Don't you see?" she says. "This is all for them. Lord Aizen isn't trying to destroy the world – just the Soul Society. _Soul Society, _the place that caused all of us so much pain. He doesn't want us to suffer any more."

"Oh," Ichigo says and he doesn't know what else to add.

**O0o0O0o0O**

"I have to admit, Grimmjow, that I'm rather startled by your decision," Aizen says, standing up from his throne and striding over to where the body of Ichigo Kurosaki is laid out. Grimmjow is kneeling – crouching, more like – behind the boy. His eyes flash up to meet Aizen's dead-on when he hears the lord's words.

"I didn't go against any of your orders," the arrancar bites out.

Aizen smiles benevolently and then inspects the body set before him. His power to create illusions works especially well when his victims are unconscious; their minds tend to fill in the gaps more easily in that state. And even though Grimmjow doesn't realize it, Ichigo is filling in the details excellently for Aizen right now. The little vizard is full of wonderful ideas.

It's most amusing.

"Careful, my Sexta Espada, or I might actually believe that you've begun to have _feelings_ for this boy."

Grimmjow twitches but, for once, wisely keeps his mouth shut.

"You must realize how strange this is, taking a . . . _strong_ enemy of ours in, if it is for any reason other than spite." Aizen's brown eyes bore into Grimmjow's blue ones, and vaguely, far in his mind, he sees a human, unmarred Grimmjow kissing Ichigo Kurosaki in a satin bed. He almost snorts. The boy really is amusing. "Ichigo Kurosaki will be labeled as your _personal _prisoner, and I will tolerate him so long as he causes no fuss."

With a wave of his hand, a white collar weaves around the boy's neck. He gives Grimmjow a meaningful glance before clenching his fist. As expected, Ichigo jerks and starts struggling unconsciously – blood streams from his neck as the collar suffocates and stabs him.

He notes with utmost fascination how Grimmjow grits his teeth and grips the stone ground so hard that it starts cracking. _He's fallen hard_, Aizen thinks and watches as the espada glares at Ichigo Kurosaki's form, jaw and eye twitching uncontrollably.

Finally, after a minute or two, Aizen lets his hand fall to his side. When the boy has stopped spasming, he says, "I expect punishment to be received where it is due."

"Yes, my lord," Grimmjow rumbles angrily.

Smiling, Aizen turns and strides back to his throne. Without a glance back, he waves a hand over his shoulder and says, "Good. Now leave, Grimmjow – and take your pet with you."

He gets no response as the Sexta Espada moves as quickly as possible to collect Ichigo Kurosaki's body and leave.

_Most, most amusing,_ Aizen thinks and smirks.

**End.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Better Than Nothing (3/?)  
**Author:** Dragondream08  
**Rating:** NC-17  
**Pairing:** Grimmjow Jeagerjacques x Ichigo Kurosaki  
**Fandom:** Bleach  
**Word Count:** 1,770  
**Disclaimer:** None of the characters are mine.  
**Comments: **Keeping Ichigo in character is way too hard. DX The next chapter might take a little longer because my writing has been deteriorating all of a sudden. I might need a little time to gather my wits and writs.

There's an illustrated version of this fic up at my livejournal. You can find a link in my profile.

**Start.**

He wakes up in a soft bed. It's silent and silky, and even though his mind is trapped in the throes of a headache, he's comfortable. He can barely feel his body and his eyes are so heavy that he stays there, limp and quiet.

An hour later, his nerves start tingling and his fingers start twitching, so he sits up. After the dizziness of blood rushing through his mind tapers away, he peers at his surroundings and suddenly remembers everything. _Everything_ everything – even things that he doesn't remember as truth but that he remembers as _being_. He remembers things that aren't possible – things that must simply be idiotic fantasies that his mind conjured – and some things that are possible but that didn'thappen.

_What_? Ichigo grits his teeth and looks around. He's in a gorgeous, white bedroom. It's got scant decorations, but the scarcity is more an asset than a drawback.

No matter how he looks at it, though, he can't shake off the feeling of wrongness that clings to the cool air and walls. They feel hollow.

Ichigo snorts and grimaces. Hollow, indeed.

And he's stuck here. _Las Noches_ – Aizen's stronghold.

A strange, chill breeze washes over him and he thinks, _Am I really stuck here? I've managed to break in – who's to say that I can't break out?_ Ichigo nods to himself. _And then I'll break out and I'll be stuck out in Hueco Mundo – the vast desert of nothingness. How would I get out of _there_? Does it matter? As long as I'm out of here. As long as I can see my friends again and save everyone._

He pushes thoughts of Grimmjow away as he eyes the door; he can't allow himself to be distracted. In a flash he throws the door open and dashes out.

He only manages to get a few feet down the hallway before someone slams him against a wall.

"The fuck do you think _you're_ doin'?"

Grimmjow, of course. Ichigo doesn't know where the arrancar came from – if he was waiting outside the door or if he just happened to be walking this way – but he thinks that it's a really crappy coincidence.

He punches the arrancar in the chest and flits away; he continues on his path with flash-feet. Even when he feels Grimmjow hurl after him, he keeps on his mad pace. He doesn't know where he's going, but then again he never does. He's long since learned that if he just keeps running, he'll eventually get where he wants to be.

He hears curses and growls at his heels, but he's just as fast as Grimmjow so they never draw any nearer. After a few minutes, the sounds do in fact seem to be growing more distant.

Muttering, "Showed _you_, you fuckin' bastard," Ichigo allows himself a grin of triumph. The gap between them is definitely widening.

But in the next moment something around his neck crushes into his windpipe, and he's left writhing on the ground. With desperate hands, Ichigo feels out a smooth, constricting collar, and he realizes that there's something else to it – it didn't just tighten around his neck. It also shoved deep-cutting blades into the tender flesh of his throat.

He tries to howl, but he doesn't have the breath – all that he manages is an empty choking sound. A warm liquid bubbles out of his mouth and rushes from the wounds in his neck.

Through the excruciating pain, he sees Grimmjow walk in front of him with slow and deliberate steps, an aggravated expression settled on the arrancar's face.

"You fuckin' retard," he says and grabs the collar of Ichigo's blood-soaked keikogi. "You're not goin' to fuckin' _escape_."

The pain suddenly stops and Ichigo's eyes roll to the back of his head he's so relieved. Bloody and brain-dead, he can't do anything as Grimmjow drags him back to the room he'd woken up in. When he's thrown onto the bed, his mind starts working again. Immediately, he turns to glare at Grimmjow, saying, "I hate you."

Grimmjow stares at him for a few moments before looking away and dropping himself onto the bed next to Ichigo. Stretching, he asks, "Do you really?" He turns to look the vizard in the eye, azure gaze serious.

Ichigo can't stand the look so he turns away, pursing his lips. He stares at the door for a few minutes, and Grimmjow notices.

"Try your little stunt again, and I'll fuckin' fuck your ass raw," Grimmjow growls, closing his eyes and looking as if he were about to drift off to sleep. He starts snoring a silent minute later; a soft, purr-like snore.

It's the only noise in the room, and minutes drip by in slow and solemn drops; it's almost as excruciating as the pain was.

Ichigo turns to Grimmjow, studying the arrancar's face intently. He can't help thinking how handsome he looks like this; muscles relaxed and smooth, and visage full of blissful sleep. The image is almost soft – if it weren't for the jawbone mask, it would be.

Hesitating, Ichigo leans over to Grimmjow's ear and whispers, "I don't hate you." Before the words manage to settle in the air, he's flashed out of the door again. He's not going to stop trying; he can't stop trying.

He gets a little further this time. The second he's through the door, he feels Grimmjow's power flare in anger, and he knows that the arrancar was never asleep in the first place. It's all just one wild chase.

What ultimately trips Ichigo up is a dead-end. It closes in on him like a great shadow, and he knows that he's doomed. A second after he's reached it, Grimmjow throws him into the wall before pinning him to the ground.

A hand grabs Ichigo's hair and pulls his head back painfully. Snarling in response, he digs his fingers into Grimmjow's sides and tries to shred as much skin as possible.

"I fuckin' warned you, didn't I?" he hears and then another hand tears through his clothes – pulls them off of his body in loud rips that echo off of the walls until he's finally lying naked under Grimmjow. There's a split-second where the cold air bears down on his skin before Grimmjow blankets Ichigo's body with his own.

One hard grind and Ichigo is moaning, tongue rolling in his mouth thickly. The sight must be too tempting for Grimmjow because he doesn't hesitate to smash his mouth to Ichigo's, his own tongue winding around the vizard's.

The kiss is deep and powerful; they push their tongues as far as they can go into each other's mouths while their teeth clack together in short shocks. Grimmjow bites down hard on Ichigo's bottom lip before moving to his neck, taking it in large mouthfuls. Soon, all of Ichigo's neck – aside from the skin protected by the collar – is covered in dark puce marks.

Dragging his teeth deep across Ichigo's clavicle, Grimmjow forces the redhead's legs wide open and kneads the skin on his inner thighs. After a few moments, he draws away to plunge two fingers into Ichigo's mouth. Ichigo stares him straight in the eye as he sucks on the appendages and Grimmjow can't tell what's going through the boy's mind. Ichigo looks like he's plotting something but Grimmjow can't figure –

He nearly chokes when Ichigo flutters his eyelashes mockingly, leaving his eyes half-lidded, and slides his tongue over the pads of Grimmjow's fingers in a languid and lewd lick. The arrancar stares wide-eyed, feeling a tight heat coil in his groin.

"Bitch," he says with a grin as he pulls his hand from the vizard's mouth. Before Ichigo can respond, there are two slick fingers pressing into him. Grimmjow isn't trying to be gentle – the saliva is just a concession he made because he loves watching Ichigo's tongue curl around things (not the least of which would be his cock) – and it shows when he shoves his fingers through Ichigo's contracting muscles in one succinct and rough lunge. He scrapes his fingernails on some of the taut, warm skin as he goes, basking in the startled shouts that fly out of Ichigo's mouth and then grinning at the moans he gets when he fingerbangs the boy.

"You fuckin' like this too much, don't you, you bitch?" Grimmjow pants, breath escaping him as he watches Ichigo push back on his fingers and jerk at his own erection.

Hissing, Ichigo says, "Fucker. Are you planning to – what was it? – 'fuck my ass raw' with your _fingers_?" and he palms Grimmjow's stiff cock through his white hakama. There are already stains of pre-come on the fabric.

Without waiting for Grimmjow's reply, the redhead tugs his pants down and hooks his knees over the arrancar's broad shoulders.

Grimmjow snickers in between gasps. "Fuckin' impatient little bitch," he says and then adds, "You want it – here you fuckin' go." In one swift jerk, he pushes into Ichigo, not caring how painful it must be for the boy. After all, he always makes good on his promises; he's going to do this so hard that Ichigo won't be able to walk straight for weeks.

So they fuck, and Grimmjow thrusts with as much power as he can; Ichigo feels the strokes ripple through his body like waves. It makes his hair stand on end, and he can't stop moaning – from pain or pleasure, he can't decide.

Ichigo loses track of time, clawing at Grimmjow's back and rocking his body to match the arrancar's. When orgasms finally grip their bodies, all that he can comprehend is that his hips and tailbone _ache_ and that both of them are covered in blood – from scratches and bites and Grimmjow must have activated the collar sometime.

Before he can recover, Grimmjow grins manically and says, "Again."

And they start once more.

**O0o0O0o0O**

The rest of the day, Ichigo keeps trying to escape. But as the hours pass by, the importance of escaping seems to fade away until it's all about the chase. It's all about the adrenaline and the thrill and, Ichigo whispers to himself, it's about Grimmjow continuing to chase after him every time.

When they finally retire to what Ichigo finds out is Grimmjow's room (where he will apparently be staying while he plays the pretty part of a fuck-toy) the vizard collapses onto the bed, utterly exhausted. His muscles are sore and tender, and he feels it every time he moves so he stays as motionless as he can.

As sleep overcomes his mind, he hears whispers in the walls, and they sound strangely like Aizen.

**End.**


End file.
